Hot Damn That's Some Good Pizza
So the story goes; I was looking through an annoying coupon/ad thing we got in the mail and stumbled upon a menu for a pizza etc. place I had never heard of or seen in Flagstaff before called The New Jersey Pizza Co. Knowing that (1) it is the time of year where money is sparse and (2) Rachel is more fiscally responsible than Bush.. uh... I mean me.. I knew the only way going out to dinner would be possible was if pizza was on the menu. So I posed the question: Want to try a new pizza place? It didn't take long for her to bite. So after inviting Bryan and Colleen we were off on adventure of Flagstaff proportions. Trying to locate this place was quite interesting. I knew where to find the road and drove up and down it but there was never any sign of the place. Not willing to throw in the hat, we drove to near-by Safeway and Bryan asked the shopping cart collector where to find the pizza. Funny story, looking through the windshield as the explanation of location unfolded, the cart guy pointed in every direction even making up a few that until that moment never existed. So, as I pondered how I was going to manage driving straight up into the sky, Colleen suggested we try our luck at Walgreen's. They sent us right back where we looked before but this time we were extra attentive. Finally we found the place and our prior difficulty was justified. The place has a painted mural of Italian-ish things which cannot be seen from the pitch-black Flagstaff road, and no sign or poster or anything with the restaurants name on it. When you have to stare through the window just to make sure your at the right place, that is not great advertising. Nevertheless, we had made it and had a great first impression. It was a cozy, well decorated restaurant and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little flattered when the cooks eyes lit up and smiles followed when we walked in (we were the only ones there then and for much of the evening). We looked over the menu and were amazed by the many different options and their claim that they have made thousands upon thousands of different topping combinations of pizza. Then, I snapped back to reality where Rachel and I always order plain cheese pizza. Speed forward now because I must be losing your interest. We were plain amazed. Every order of an item on the menu came with an explanation of where the meat and vegetable came from, always Arizona grown and raised, as well as "of, course, everything is made from scratch." Now, I have yet to commit to the organic or bust mentality but it is still refreshing to go to a place with all fresh and hormone-less ingredients. However, that alone would not be enough to satisfy me. Rachel and I ordered a pizza, half just cheese, half artichoke hearts (mmmm... artichoke hearts), traditional buffalo wings (different sauce variations were available), and Breadstyx (that what they call them). The wings were awesome and I am not even joking. Not just the sauce but the chicken quality was amazing (no veins or fat like most wings). Then when the pizza arrived Rachel and I were on cloud 9. Rachel, in fact, had goose bumps for the rest of the nigh and dipping the thick crust (thin crust available) into their homemade ranch dressing was heaven. I don't want you to think I am exaggerating. This is no Buffalo Wild Wings where the novelty wears off and I feel like an idiot for praising it so much. To top off the evening, are server/cook (they can do it all there), treated us to free samples of the desserts: a thin slice of some chocolate thing with maple whipped cream and some pumpkin cheesecake variety. Those too were very delicious. That experience alone was enough to make us miss Flagstaff. You all know very well how much it would take for me to miss Flagstaff. Needless to say if and when you visit you will be treated to the New Jersey Pizza Co. As an illustration I will leave you with this: to Michelle and Alex, it's your Del Mar Pizza, to Josh and Kim, your Chino Bandito or Mini-Chimis, to Allison your Midori Sour (just kidding, but really what is your favorite?).
This is probably my last post until after the new year. Definitely, on this main page because I can only update it at school. However, I may still update the Blogger page which, you can always access by clicking on SaGblog at the top. This is dependent on whether people outside my immediate family read this because I will be with my immediate family and can tell them what's going on face-to-face. So, if you are a person that will go through painful withdrawal if I don't update and won't see me over Christmas, you can email me with a request to keep-a-postin'. As for the Phoenix bunch, see you all on Thursday...err...tomorrow.
Also, I have not been using my guestbook anymore so if you have anything to say to me, click on comments below.
~SAG